Impeller



A. J. WEINIG April 23, 1935.

IMPELLER Filed Dec. 8, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I I I 1 ATTORNEY.-

April 23, 1935. w G 1,998,694

' IMPELLER Filed Dec. 8, 1955 5 sheets-skeet 2 April 23,1935. A. J WEINIG 1,998,694

' IMPELLER Filed -Dec. 8, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 23, 1935 IMPELLER Arthur J. Weinig, Golden, 0010., asslgnor The Morse Brothers Machinery and Supply Company, Denver, 0010.

v Application December 8, 1933, Serial No. 701,547 6 Claims. ((21. 261-87) This invention relates to apparatus for the recovery of minerals from their ores by the wellknown flotation process, and more particularly to new and useful improvements in the impellers commonly used in such apparatus, for the main purpose of aerating and agitating the material the liquid-level of the flotation machine.

In consequence of this result obtained in the operation of a flotation machine in which the impeller is employed, more perfect flotation is effected with an increased recovery of metals and higher grade products.

, Another object of the invention resides in providing an impeller for flotation machines which may be effectively operated with a low consumption of horse power in comparison with other impellers at present in use.

A further object of the invention is to be foun in the provision of an impeller in which a slicing action is combined with a pumping action and a striking action to efiect an intimate and intense intermixture of pulp, air and a flotation agent in the operation of a flotation unit to which the impeller is applied, and still other objects reside in details of construction and a novel arrangement of the parts comprised in the improved impeller as will be fully brought out in the course of the following description.

In this connection, it is to be understood that while the improved impeller is particularly adapted for use in the flotation process of recovering minerals from their ores, it may be effectively employed in other processes in which a thorough and intimate intermixture of materials is a desideratum.

In the accompanying drawings, in the several views of which like parts 'are similarly desig- Hated,

' Figure 1 represents a bottom view of an impeller made in accordance with the present invention,

Figure 2, a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, v

Figure 3, a side elevation looking in the direction of the arrow 3 in Figure 1,

Figure 4, a sectional elevation of a flotation ing, thereby providing a quiet froth surface at unit showing the application of the improved impeller,

Figure 5, a fragmentary and sectional elevation of the flotation unit showing a modification in the method of supplying air thereto,

Figure 6, an enlarged section through one of the vanes of the impeller, showing a method of detachably connecting it to the body portion of the same, also showing the expedient of covering the parts of the impeller with rubber or other 10 friction-resisting material,

Figure '7, an enlarged and fragmentary section taken on the line '|l of Figure 1,

Figure 8, a sectional elevation showing a modified construction, and

Figure 9, an enlarged section taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

Referring further to the drawings, the impeller comprises, a circular, disk-like body portion 5 and downwardly projecting. vanes 6, I and 20 8. These vanes may be made integrally with the body of the impeller, as shown in Figure l, or they may be made separately to be detachably secured to the body, as illustrated in Figure 6. In the last-mentioned instance, the vanes may be made with laterally extending flanges 9 and fastened to the disk 5 by bolts 9a extending through holes in said flanges.

Figure 6 also shows that both the body member and the vane-members of the impeller, or either one, may be covered with rubber or other friction-resisting material as indicated at H].

The impeller is mounted at the end of a shaft l2 in the following manner: A babbitted and circumferentially flanged hub I3 is fitted around the end of the shaft, and connected for rotation with the shaft by means of a key M.

The key extends through a transverse keyway of the shaft, into recesses at the underside of the hub, and the bodyof the impeller is fastened to the flange l5 of the hub by bolts [B which are countersunk in recesses H at the underside of the body.

It will be seen that this arrangement permits of ready detachment or removal of the parts for adjustment or repairs.

A meal ring I8 on the upper side of the impeller body, provides an even bearing surface for the hub.

The end of the shaft projects into a central opening of the disk 5 and this opening is for the purpose of providing an even' fit, lined with a bushing ill of babbitt or other similar soft metal.

The flange of the hub may be reenforced by radial ribs, as shown at 20 in the drawings.

The vanes of the impeller are arranged in groups or series according to their position with respect to the axis of rotation and/or the circumferential edge of the body portion of the impeller. Each group of vanes performs an individual and distinctive function in the operation of the impeller. Thus the vanes 6 projecting radially from the axis of rotation at the inner or central part of the disk 5, function as a pumping-element which causes the pulp and air in the flotation unit to move from the center outwardly toward the periphery of the impeller. The vanes 8, which are at the periphery of the disk and slant inwardly at an acute angle, to the periphery, rearwardly with relation to the direction of rotation indicated by the arrow R, provide an element which has a slicing action in that they cut inwardly into the pulp-stream thrown outwardly by the pumping vanes.

Air which enters the unit centrally of the impeller is also thrown outwardly to the periphery of the same, while a second stream of pulp meets the outwardly moving stream from beyond the periphery of the impeller. The air is thus sandwiched between the two pulp-streams and the combined streams converge in jets and at a jet velocity'to the orifices 2i provided by the spaces between the adjacent ends of the slicing vanes and the vanes i which, in the operation, function as a striking element to smash, blow, scatter and shatter the streams of pulp and air, thus producing an intense and intimate admixture of the same'in the zone exteriorly of the impeller.

These vanes l hereinafter to be referred to as the striking vanes, extend from the central portionof the disk 5, in substantially parallel relation to the pumping vanes ii, to the periphery of the disk, at which points they are spaced from the adjacent ends of the slicing vanes to provide the orifices 2i hereinbefore referred to.

In Figure 1 of the drawings, the outwardly thrown pulp stream indicated by the arrows A, the outwardly moving air stream by the arrows B, the inwardly drawn pulp stream by the arrows C, and the point of admixture of the streams exteriorly of the impeller, by the letter D.

Referring to Figures e and 5 of the drawings, the numeral 525 indicates the tank of a flotation unit having an overflow ior froth and entrapped values at 22. The impeller located in the bottom portion of the tank is mounted in Figure 4 at the lower end of the hollow shaft l2 into which the air is introduced as by means of a pipe 23. v

The shaft is mounted for rotation as in bearings 2e and it carries a pulley 25, exteriorly of the tank, for its connection with a. motor or other source of energy.

In Figure 5,.the shaft 26 may be solid and the air is introduced centrally below the impeller, by means of a pipe El.

The vanes of the impeller as well as the. body part of the same, are preferably made of some hard resistant metal such as white iron or steel and, as stated hereinbefore, they may be covered with friction resistant material, as indicated in Figure 6.

In Figure 8 of the drawings the hub 28 or the impeller is provided with air openings 29 and with radial vanes 39. The'construction of the impeller is otherwise similar to that hereinbefore described. A stationary air pipe 3} terminates at its flanged lower extremity above the hub and between the openings 29 and the vanes 30. This construction is particularly adapted for use in flotation machines since it produces a greater influx of air with a much reduced expenditure of horse power. The air entering through the stationary tube 3|, which extends above the overflow level in the tank, passes through the openings 29 to the blades of the impeller, which, in the present instance, may be tapered outwardly as shown at 32. The hub 28 operates as an expeller to prevent the pulp in the tank from entering the air tube 3| by the action of its radial vanes 30.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An impeller comprising a body capable of rotation about a central axis, and vanes projecting from a surface of the body in difierent groups, those of one group projecting outwardly from the axis of rotation in the middle portion of the body to producea pumping action upon material under treatment, those of a second group extending. adjacent and at an acute angle to the periph ery of the body, to produce a slicing action upon the material, and those of a third group extending to the periphery of the body and in spaced and angular relation to the vanes of the second group to effect a striking action upon the material.

2. An impeller comprising a body capable of rotation about a central axis, and vanes projecting from a surface of the body in different groups, those of one group projecting outwardly from the axis of rotation in the middle portion of the body to produce a pumping action upon material under treatment, those of a second group extending adjacent and at an acute angle to the periphery of the body, to produce a slicing action upon the material, and those of a third group extending in substantially parallel relation to the vanes of the first-mentioned group, to the periphery of the body and in spaced relation to the vanes of the second group to efiect a striking action upon the material.

3. In flotation apparatus, a tank, and in the lower portion thereof, a rotary impeller having vanes positioned to produce a combined pumping and slicing acion upon pulp in the tank, a hub for the impeller, a shaft connected with the hub, and a stationary air conduit around the shaft extending above a determinate liquid level in thetank for the introduction of air to the impeller, the hub having openings for the passage of air fromthe tube to the vanes of the impeller and having exteriorly oi the tube, vanes to produce an expellant action upon the pulp in the tank.

4. In flotation apparatus, a tank, and in the lower portion thereof, a rotary impeller having vanes acting upon pulp in the tank, a hub for the impeller, a shaft connected with the hub, and a stationary air conduit around the shaft, extending above a determinate liquid level in the tank for the introduction of air to the impeller, the hub having openings for the passage of air from the tube to the vanes of the impeller and having exterlorly of the tube, vanes to produce an expellant action upon'the pulp in the tank.

5. An impeller comprising a body capable of rotation about a central axis, and vanes projectlng from a surface of the body in different groups, those of one group projecting outwardly from the axis of rotation in the middle portion of the body to produce a pumping action upon material under treatment, those of a second group extending at an acute angle to the periphery of the body, to produce a slicing action upon the material, and those of a third group extending in spaced and angular relation to the vanes of the second group to effect a striking action upon the material.

6. An impeller comprising a body capable of rotation about a central axis, and vanes projecting from a surface of the body in different groups,

1 those of one group projecting outwardly from the axis of rotation in the middle portion of the body to produce a pumping action upon material under treatment, those of a second group extending at an acute angle to the periphery of the body,

to produce a slicing action upon the material,

and those of a third group extending in substantially parallel relation and in spaced and angular relation to the vanesof the second group to effeet a striking action upon the material.

a l ARTHUR J. WEINIG. 

